The Bassmaster Elite Series is the highest level of professional bass fishing tournaments. Competitors must qualify for the series through the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens or the TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation, and anglers who are already on the Elite Series must re-qualify each year by maintaining enough points throughout the season. The pro anglers compete all season for the opportunity to win points toward the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year award and to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic.
The series was founded in 2006. Its predecessors were the Bassmaster Tour, Top 150 and Top 100.
The Latest
Radio: Hartman, Jocumsen and Jessie
Listen to the latest episode of Bassmaster Radio featuring Jamie Hartman, Carl Jocumsen and Kyle Jessie.
No longer fishing scared
I have to admit that my rookie Bassmaster Elite Series season did not start out the way I would have liked, but I’ve been able to turn it around just...
Time well spent with no regrets
What seems like yesterday has now been 19 years. At that time, I was completing my 13th year of service with the City of Carbondale Fire Department. I had risen...
Cox: No bass caught deeper than 4 feet this season
Calendar year 2022 is nearly half over, six of nine Bassmaster Elite Series events are in the books, and John Cox sits second in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the...
Daily Limit: With Big Mo, wins come in bunches
Jerry Reed didn’t have tournament bass fishing in mind when he sang, “When you’re hot, you’re hot,” but anglers certainly are in accord with that line. For years, pros have...
It all came together on Pickwick
Every year when an angler sees a schedule, he has tournaments he circles in his mind and says, “I’m looking forward to that one.” The 2022 Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at...
Lester takes a blue trophy to the beach
If you know Brandon Lester, you know Sundays hold a special place in his heart, and that he treasures time at the beach nearly as much as bass fishing. So,...
Fishing ‘free’ has its ups and downs
Anglers always talk about how winning the Bassmaster Classic — and the resulting berth in the following year’s championship — allows them to fish freely, but until you’re there it’s...
Daily Limit: Lester ‘learning how to win’
Watch out! After claiming a second tournament title in his past nine B.A.S.S. entries, Brandon Lester thinks he might have unlocked the mystery of how to win. In the first...
Palaniuk, Cox continue blistering AOY pace
In a tournament that could easily have been a hiccup for either angler, Brandon Palaniuk and John Cox finished seventh and fifth, respectively, at the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Pickwick...
Webster new ROY leader, Foutz moves into second place
The rookie race is all shook up. Six events in to a nine-tournament season, new anglers are in first and second place in Falcon Rods Bassmaster Rookie of the Year...
Eager to go north and fish for smallies
With the southern swing of the Bassmaster Elites behind us, it’s time for the fun to begin. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy fishing southern waters. I do. I...